It's Always Sunny in Philadelpha Cast Chat

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TCAs: The stars of the hysterical comedy discuss the show and what's to come in Season 3.

By Eric Goldman

Running for nearly two weeks straight, the TCA (Television Critics Association) winter press tour is a major endeavor, where nearly all the biggest channels -- from the broadcast networks to popular cable stations -- have presentations and panels discussing their upcoming programming, including new and returning series.

If you haven't been watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, you're missing out. One of the boldest and funniest series on the air, the FX comedy follows the adventures of some of the worst people you've ever met, doing some of the most darkly hysterical things imaginable. From faking being staunchly pro-life to score with a (hot) pro-life female activist, to smoking crack in order to qualify for welfare, to allowing underage drinking in the bar they own, these people will do anything imaginable, and some things you probably never thought of. Season 2 saw the inclusion of Danny DeVito to the show, as Frank, the father of Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and as it turned out, he was no better than his children.

At the TCAs, the entire cast of Sunny appeared, including Charlie Day ("Charlie") and Rob McElhenney ("Mac"), to discuss the series, which will go into production for Season 3 in February, for 15 new episodes that will debut this summer.

Asked how Philadelphia is showing their appreciation towards the show, DeVito quipped, "I think this year I'm going to get a key to the city," with Olson going further and adding, "They're giving us City Hall." McElhenney does in fact go to Philadelphia occasionally, and said, "Every time I'm home and just walking around, people from Philly really seem to love it. I get a lot of people screaming out of their car as they drive by." Howerton however insisted they were screaming, "You son of a bitch," with McElhenney nodding and adding that he hears, "You're a dick. Bastard, stay away from my daughter!" All of the cast agreed they hear a lot of, "It rains in Philadelphia!" More seriously, McElhenney said, "Most of the time, people really seem to get the joke and really seem to dig it."

Asked if they'd gotten any angry response for their edgy and very non-PC content, Howerton quickly joked, "Oh, f**k that! No, no." Asked for a redeeming quality to each of their characters, Howerton said Dennis was "Handsome"; DeVito said Frank was "A role model"; and McElhenney said that for Mac, "I work out." Day noted, "My character is illiterate. So you got to feel bad for him at least," and Olson said Sweet Dee is, "Really self-absorbed," which she quipped, "Makes her lovable."

Commenting on why their characters do remain oddly lovable, despite their actions, Howerton said, "In all honesty, we have a very positive outlook on life. I think that one of the things that makes it work is that we always have a positive outlook on things. We're not pessimistic." Added Day, "The redeeming quality is that they're not aware of the fact that they're lacking any redeeming qualities, and therefore, they don't ever do things with malicious intent. So that's why I feel like the audience comes along with us."

McElhenney, Day and Howerton created It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and write all of the episodes. Asked if there have been times when they have held back from a joke or storyline even they felt went too far, Howerton said, "We try to avoid ever being cruel. Anything that's cruel we tend to shy away from." Day noted, "There's a very fine line when you're sitting there and you're writing and you're, like, 'This is so funny. This is so funny. This is so funny. Wait a second. Now it's mean.' And the second it seems mean, then it's not funny. But usually it's just so bad, it's good." The cast agreed the characters are mean to each other, and occasionally to "anybody that deserves it," but McElhenney and Day pointed out that usually, by the end of the episode, there's a comeuppance for their nasty actions.

When McElhenney was asked if DeVito, obviously a veteran in the industry, ever tells the "kids" they're doing something wrong, McElhenney replied, "All the time. Actually, he's got this chair that he sits up on, and he just sort of stares down at us. It's a lot of, like, slapping us around."

"I wouldn't call them kids," said DeVito. "More like, you know, 'Hey, a**hole, what are you thinking? Where's your mind?" DeVito then offered praise to his costars, saying, "They're not at all undisciplined. They're, you know, incredibly insane. And a lot of times, you wonder really how it all comes together. But they're disciplined in their work in terms of being always on the set. This is the main thing. Always there for each other. It's a family. And you know, it's a very, very deranged family. They're sick, you know, just internally. And I love it. They're really very sweet, but, you know, totally f**ked up." McElhenney added, "It's such collaboration with everybody, in all honesty, that we always ask for and invite Danny's opinion in most situations."

Asked how they juggle writing and performing on the show, Day said that they have to complete writing the scripts before production. "That's the challenge," Day explained. "We have to write extraordinarily fast, and then we can't really write when we're filming because we shoot a lot. We shoot 12 pages a day. Most shows shoot half that. And so there's no time to be continuing writing. I would love to figure out a way that we could do it faster to get the show on the air quicker. And we're learning, and we're writing faster every year. But we have to get everything done ahead of time." Howerton revealed for the 15 episodes for Season 3, "It looks like we're going to shoot five episodes at a time. So we'll shoot the first five, then the next five, then the next five all at once."